1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a multiple sensor, electro-optical fire control system employing a common aperture and, more particularly, to a boresight mechanism having an internal boresight target generator for properly aligning the infrared and visible sensors of the electro-optical fire control system without firing the laser, and which does not require the line of sight to be moved to view externally mounted reflectors or sources.
2. Discussion
Current military weaponry employ electro-optical fire control systems to detect, track and deliver weapons to desired targets. These fire control systems often use multiple sensors, such as visible sensors (TV) and forward looking infrared sensors (FLIR), and lasers to perform these functions. These sensors require extremely accurate boresighting in order to satisfy the error limits imposed by the associated weapons, especially precision laser guided weapons.
Current fire control system technology employs an external boresight target for aligning and calibrating the TV and FLIR sensors located off-gimbal at which the laser is fired in order to generate a boresight target signal. This shortens the operational life of the laser, increases the time required to appropriately boresight the sensors and creates a potential hazard for the personnel operating the system.
Furthermore, most current fire control systems employ multiple apertures to allow each sensor to view targets simultaneously. The use of numerous apertures is not desired since the apertures are vulnerable targets for enemy fire and are difficult to protect or camouflage. A further limitation of current fire control systems is that the optical components of the fire control system must be slued into and out of position to boresight the system.
As such, many configurations used today for multiple sensor electro-optical fire control systems lack the ability to be quickly and accurately boresighted while maintaining a common aperture for all of the components of the fire control system. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve one or more of the aforementioned problems.